73
Fahrenheit) to separate unwanted mineral contaminants
from the iron bound in the rock.
When heated to a semimolten state in a furnace,
iron particles coalesce to form a sponge-like and
malleable mass called a “bloom.” Iron can then
be worked by direct forging, which requires
heating it to white-hot temperatures so that it
can be shaped by the compressive force of a
blacksmith’s hammer and manipulated further
with punches, chisels, and other tools.
SECTION III: Africa’s Iron Origins
World history is often categorized as a progression
of “Ages,” from the Stone Age to the Copper
or Bronze to the Iron. However, in Sub-Saharan
Africa, where humanity’s shared ancestors
fi rst began to make stone tools, the use of such
implements continued directly into the continent’s
Iron Age. Archeologists once understood
the evidence to suggest that knowledge of making
iron had arrived in north Africa by the fi rst
millennium BCE, later spreading to the south,
but more recent research has pushed the advent
of iron production farther back in time.
Were these technologies invented and developed
in one or several Sub-Saharan locales?
Were they disseminated with early migrations
and trade? However they came to be known to
African artisans, iron technologies were quickly
adopted and adapted, and large-scale production
of iron occurred in several ancient locations.
Iron production, use, and exchange defi ned social
and political hierarchies, as confi rmed by
fi ndings at the archaeological sites of Campo in
Cameroon (dating to the 2nd–4th century CE),
Kamilamba in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo (8th–10th century CE) (fi gs. 10a and b),
and Great Zimbabwe (13th–14th century CE).
Many African communities use origin stories
to reveal and explain the brilliant inventions
and innovations of blacksmiths. “Birthing” iron
blooms and forging iron objects are wondrous
acts, and the Dogon and Bamana peoples of Mali
offer histories of blacksmiths who were able, like
gods, to transform substances and circumstances.
The prominent role of blacksmiths in Bamana
society derives from their expertise in ironworking
technologies, herbal medicines, and
management of relations with the supernatural.
Blacksmiths lead the powerful Kòmò initiation
association (fi gs. 12 and 13), which teaches its
members to marshal exceptional energies called
nyama to address the personal, social, and spiritual
concerns people face in life. Kòmò encompasses
a triangle of power: blacksmith leaders,
power objects (including masks and
altars), and wilderness spirits.
SECTION IV: Sustenance from the
Anvil
In homes and farms, forged knives, hoes, plows,
sickles, machetes, axes, and adzes have long assured
clever, effi cient, and fulfi lling management
of household and agricultural chores. Such tools
FIGS. 10a and b (above
and below): The excavated
burial known as Tomb 7
at Kamilamba. The circled
areas highlight the axe
blade and pins (above the
fi gure’s bent knees) and the
anvil (beside his skull).
Photo © Pierre de Maret,
Kamilamba, Upemba Region, DR
Congo, 1992. © Pierre de Maret and
Royal Museum for Central Africa,
Tervuren.
Drawing of axe blade with wood
handle ornamented by pins by Yvette
Paquay, 1992. © Royal Museum for
Central Africa, Tervuren.
FIG. 11 (right): Ceremonial adze.
Dogon; Mali. Early 20th century.
Iron, wood. H: 72.1 cm.
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, inv. 2008.38.48; gift of
the Erle Loran Family Collection. Image courtesy of the Fine
Arts Museums of San Francisco.
This tall dance adze, which would have been held over the
shoulder with the blade facing back, depicts a cascade of
ancestral fi gures (Nommos) descending to earth. Among
Dogon, bells at the top of objects held in performance
may call forth spirits. The Nommo who became the fi rst
blacksmith stole fi re from the sun to share with humans,
and this act is celebrated by a society of ritual thieves
called Yona, selected from each Dogon clan. Their principal
activity is to reenact the theft upon the death of one of their
members through dance and performance. Ritual objects
including staffs, sickles, and adzes bring the creative energies
of iron into dancers’ hands.